FOR all people who are immunocompromised or who are being treated with drugs that lower their immune defenses, and who therefore respond poorly to vaccines for Covid-19, the European Commission has just approved the combination of two monoclonal antibodies as an additional prophylaxis: thixagevimab and cilgavimab.
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The combination, administered before SarS-COV-2 infection in patients considered frail, has been shown to protect against the risk of developing the disease: the Provent study, on which the European decision was based, shows a reduction in risk of 83 %, compared to placebo, six months later.
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The story of the combination
Treatment with tixagevimab and cilgavimab was initially used as early therapy for Covid in virus-positive patients. Thanks to the results of the Provent study – which investigated the preventive efficacy of the two monoclonals in about 5,200 non-infected individuals – last January 26, Aifa authorized the combination for emergency use for pre-treatment prophylaxis in Italy. exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Now, with the approval of the European Commission, prophylaxis can be performed on adults and adolescents aged 12 and over (weighing at least 40 kg) who have not obtained adequate protection from the COVID-19 vaccine. According to estimates, this would be around three million people.
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“The increase in COVID-19 cases driven by the new BA.2 variant, and the lifting of various containment measures make it important to protect vulnerable populations, such as the immunocompromised, from SARS-CoV-2 infection,” comments Giovanni Di Perri, Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Turin and Head of the University Division of Infectious Diseases at the Amedeo di Savoia Hospital in Turin: “The authorization of this combination of antibodies will allow health authorities to protect those people who need an additional vaccine prophylaxis “.
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